Don't EVER have any of these things wrong with you.....

by TRUDI TAYLOR GRAY
(LONDON, UK)

When I was at school, I was knocked about in the playground by other kids for committing not one, but THREE cardinal sins-

I was clever(strike one), I was fat(strike two)and from the age of eight, I had to wear glasses (strike three).

My so-called best friend at school seemed to think that it was perfectly OK to say things to me like, "You're an ugly girl, but I think you'd be OK as a boy". Whenever I hear people saying that schooldays are the happiest days of your life, I have to really bite my tongue.

Oh, add to the foregoing the fact that my parents got a divorce, which in 1948 was a really big thing.......In view of all the mental scars I collected, I am amazed that I actually turned out as I did - not perfect, but I really like myself, and I am a terrific friend.